your life your opinion Because of the accompaniment of a loved one at the end of life or their work in contact with elderly people in pain, our readers and readers say why they wrote their advance directives
13% of French people have written an advance directive concerning their end of life — Canva
- 13% of French people have written an advance directive concerning their end of life.< /li>
- The purpose of these writings: to leave instructions to your loved ones and your doctor to limit or stop your treatment in the event that you are no longer in a condition to express your wishes.
- A trigger following the Vincent Humbert or Vincent Lambert cases, support for relatives or sick patients at the end of their life and in pain, they and they have many reasons for having put their last wishes on paper.
“My doctor found me a bit crazy because too young to do ça.” Rebecca was only 26 when she wrote her advance directive. Instructions left to his relatives and his doctor to limit or stop his treatment, in the event that she would no longer be able to express her will. Like her, 13% of French people have written a request concerning their end of life, according to figures from the Committee; 2019 National Ethics Advisory Committee (CCNE).
Click to following media stories like those of Vincent Humbert or Vincent Lambert, accompanying a seriously ill loved one at the end of life or working with elderly people in pain: the reasons for having slept ; on paper his last wishes are numerous.
The Vincent Humbert and Vincent Lambert cases
“The cases of Vincent Humbert and then Vincent Lambert pushed me. to write down my advance directives so that there is no ambiguity; when the time comes,” says Ally, 34, who wrote them back in 2019. The Vincent Lambert affair, a young man immersed in in a chronic vegetative state at following a road accident in 2008 in which family members remained in dispute over the consequences of the accident. give, until his death in 2019, marked the spirits. “I don’t wish for relentless therapy so I wanted to write this so that my family members wouldn’t have a hard choice to make. do in the painful circumstances of a death,” continues Ally.
Because the case of Vincent Lambert has brought out differences of opinion within the families as to the end of life. Maxime, 54, who says he is “firmly opposed to to therapeutic relentlessness” was qualified of “too pragmatic” by his relatives with whom he does not share the same convictions, particularly in matters of religion. Considering, he decided to write their advance directive.
Painful support from loved ones
Sharing the last years of a loved one suffering at the end of life can also lead to write some instructions to respect. “I saw my mother suffer and undergo major operations which made her last years difficult, testifies B’atrice, 67 years old. In the end, she asked me to stop treating her. I have an only daughter and I don’t want her to have to. choose for me.”
Because the drafting of guidelines relating to the end of life provides relief to loved ones, especially children. Françoise, 71, and her husband saw their parents sink into drug addiction. following various illnesses: “I wish with all my our children what we have been through.”
Christophe goes even further. At 57, he accompanied his father, who suffered a stroke, until the end. “He spent his last four years aphasic and hemiplegic in an institution. No longer having the right to see him outside. cause of the Covid-19, he died of grief. At the same time, I had my three dogs euthanized. And I felt like my dogs were a lot luckier than my dad.” After his death, Christophe joined the to ADMD (Association for the right to die with dignity). He transmitted to them his directives relating to his end of life “in order to try to escape the same fate as [his] father.”
Caregivers in the first lodges
Because rubbing shoulders with patients in pain and at the end of life can lead to write their own advance directives. This is the case within families but also at work. “I found it aberrant the way caregivers and families were torn when it came to making a decision about what to do. the end of life, laments Nathalie, a 58-year-old caregiver. I didn’t want this to happen to me.” Devi, a 40-year-old nurse said to himself “what if tomorrow you were in this situation?”, after caring for a patient with Charcot’s disease. “Writing my advance directives has calmed me down. these concerns.”
But writing instructions is not everything. Diane, a 35-year-old nurse, helped his grandmother to write their own. “We fought to ensure that they were taken into account in his last months of life. I realized, at regret that it is still difficult, in 2022, to ensure that they are fully respected.”